The BMW Group steps up its commitment to sustainable production processes by investing an additional $12 million in the expansion of its “Gas to Energy” program at its Spartanburg plant, the production facility for BMW X vehicles. In an effort to improve capacity and efficiency, new gas turbine generators are being fitted which will double the plant's overall electrical output while using the same amount of methane gas. Capable of producing 11,000 kilowatts (kW) of electricity, the two new turbine generators will replace four older ones and improve electrical output at the plant from 14 percent to nearly 30 percent. The program, which was implemented in late 2002, collects methane gas at a nearby landfill and transports it 9.5 miles via pipeline to BMW's Spartanburg production facility. More than 60 percent of the plant's total energy requirements are already met by burning methane gas, a byproduct of landfill waste decomposition. BMW says the expansion will help the company to more efficiently use the gas siphoned from the landfill. “BMW's landfill gas program has been a tremendous initiative for the plant,” said Josef Kerscher, president of BMW Manufacturing. “Using methane gas to power our plant is one example of our focus on environmentally-friendly production processes.” In addition to adding larger turbines and heat recovery boilers, BMW will integrate a new specialized treatment system to remove siloxanes from the methane gas (a compound common to landfill gas and potentially destructive to gas turbines). Two of the four original 1,200kW gas turbine engines will remain in place to serve as a back-up for the new system. The landfill project has saved BMW Group an average of $5 million in energy costs annually. The new turbines are expected to increase those savings by up to $2 million a year while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 92,000 tons per year.
